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I was not compatible with a hockey player. No way. My panties totally weren’t drenched with slick. Fuck! I wanted Kane to hold me again.

Sitting in the front passenger seat of the SUV, I pressed myself against the door and tried to distract myself from the fact my heat was triggered on the side of a desolate highway in the middle of nowhere. I cracked open the window slightly to let the cold air battle the magma in my veins.

I’d always said to my friends that when I found a compatible hunky Alpha, I’d throw myself at him and fuck like bunnies. We all giggled at those steamy thoughts, but now that it had happened, I wanted to run away. Sure, Kane was incredibly hot. A gorgeous edgy bad boy face, intensely sexy gray eyes, and the tightest butt in the history of the world. The way his jeans hugged that ass…

Nope, not thinking of groping him. Not going to do it.

Kane sat behind me and closed the sliding door of the vehicle. Was that him breathing heavily or me? I couldn’t tell over the pounding of my heart.

“Now we can get this party started!” Ewan hooted from the back seat. Someone shushed him, and I worried my lower lip between my teeth. There would be no partying, but what was I going to do now? I couldn’t go back with my tail between my legs, especially now that one of the players on my father’s new team had triggered my heat. Dad would flip his lid, or maybe, even worse, he would be all for it because, you know, hockey. Then I’d be stuck living in the most boring place on the planet.

Tiergan, the driver, turned to me with a smile. He was also damn handsome with messy auburn hair, brilliant green eyes, and a mouth that was meant to do sinful things to a lover’s body. Why was I even thinking that? Oh, right, heat triggered.

“Hey, things will be okay.” Tiergan’s words were smooth and slow with a slight Canadian accent. “We can take you back to the city, but if you don’t mind, we were just on our way to my parents’ house in Saint Agathe up the road here. I need to check on their cats and take in their mail while they’re on vacation.”

“It’s fine.” I nodded, anything but going back to Winnipeg. Maybe there was a hotel in Saint Agathe, or these guys could drive me all the way to the border. It wasn’t that far, and surely there had to be a hotel in Pembina which was the first town in North Dakota. Then in the morning, I could catch an Uber to Fargo and fly to Alaska to hide out with Nicolette.

Already I thought I felt Kane’s body heat behind me and Tiergan was less than an arm’s length away. I was sandwiched between the two of them, and my thighs tightened to imagine actually being naked between them. Plus the other three guys, holy fuck. Ewan was loud and gregarious, but he had this alluring gleam in his eyes like a real life Loki. Alderic looked a lot like Ewan—maybe they were brothers—but he had a more calming aura, and would totally make a sexy elf with his high cheekbones and taut swimmer’s body. The last guy, Maddox, was the tallest and most built of all of them, and he was also the most quiet. Yet his smoldering blue eyes were intense as he stared at me.

What topped everything off was the fact that Kane, Tiergan, and Maddox were Alphas. I could feel it in my very bones. Not just because Kane triggered my heat, but their powerful presences. I wanted to melt against them and flee as I screamed at the same time.

No. Not yet. The best plan was to have them drop me off at the border. For that to happen, I had to play nice.

“Thanks so much for stopping and helping me out.” I flashed them all a smile as Tiergan pulled the SUV out onto the highway. “I’m sorry I was so stand-offish.” Yes, let’s call it that. “But a girl can’t be too careful these days.”

There was a round of no worries and of courses.

“Yeah, especially with a serial killer on the loose,” Ewan nodded.

“Dude.” Maddox growled at him. “Don’t scare her.”

I shrugged and chuckled. From the few snippets on the news I’d seen of the Hangman, his victims were depressed women who rarely left their homes. Me, I was full of energy. Horny energy at the moment, but that was Kane’s fault.

“Hey, if I can hold off a whole hockey team, I think I’d be okay against one crazy man.”

That comment earned me grins and laughs from all of them. Something in me warmed at making them smile, but I told myself it was just to get a ride to where I needed to go. Nothing more. These were my dad’s players, and I needed to remind myself of that fact.

“Where were you headed by the way?” Tiergan asked.

Such a normal question, but it smothered me with a truck load of guilt. They couldn’t know I was running off or they’d immediately toss me back to my father. “I was headed over the border to North Dakota. I’m due to board a plane in the morning to go visit a good friend while my dad is busy with your team. I hope I don’t have to reschedule my flight. I need to make it to Fargo before morning to catch my plane.”

Did I layer the ‘woe is me’ act on too thickly? I glanced at them, wondering if any looked suspicious of my story. My eyes made contact with Kane’s in the rearview mirror, and a jolt of yearning made me tremble. If only he hadn’t been a hockey player on my dad’s team in the middle of nowhere, or else maybe I might totally let myself give into my naughty Omega urges.

“That sucks. Fargo is a world away. Guess you have to come out and party with us now.” Ewan wiggled his brows and earned another glare from the rest of the guys.

“We might be able to drive….” Maddox’s words trailed off as Kane shook his head.

“No. Sorry, Kienna. A roadtrip like that would keep us up all night, and we have practice in the morning. And there’s no missing this practice.” Kane gave his teammates a stern look. I didn’t need him saying that to tell me he was the one in charge here. He radiated dominant energy, and every inch of me ate that up.

So he was the one I had to contend with. Bonus for me was that since Kane had triggered my heat, he must be feeling his protective Alpha instincts. We’d been taught that in school, but I heard firsthand from my friends just how insanely vigilant Alphas could be. If I could convince him that driving me to the border was the best thing for me, then I was gold. “It’s okay. I understand. You’re all very dedicated. You can just drop me off in Saint Agathe, and I’ll find my way from there.”

“There’s nothing in Saint Agathe to find your way with. The Greyhound bus stopped running through there years ago.” Tiergan informed me, glancing my way with a sympathetic gaze. “I’m sorry you’ll have to miss your flight.”

It was time for the hook. “Guess I’ll just hitch then.”

There was a burst of exclamations from the guys, and Kane grabbed the back of my seat. His fingers dug into it. “No way are you hitching.” It was a snarl, a command, and I shivered with the power of it. “We will drive you to a hotel, and that’s where you’ll stay the night.”

I’d fought authority figures all my life. My dad and I often went head-to-head with me defying his rules. He was an Alpha. Did Kane really think he could make me do something I was determined not to do?

I wanted to twist in my seat and stare him down, but something kept me from moving. If I looked at him, I might give in. Not only that, I might crawl onto his lap and whisper all the kinky things I wanted to do to him.

Must stay strong .

“I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.” I swallowed, defiantly keeping my chin up. The SUV turned off the highway toward a small town.

“It’s not safe. You don’t have a phone.” Kane shot back. Everyone else seemed to be holding their breaths.

“I still have my credit cards. I’ll buy a burner in the morning.” I forced a shrug. I wasn’t going back to that jail cell of a hotel room in Winnipeg.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” The gruffness in Kane’s voice was rising as he leaned in closer to me. It made me want to push through the seat to meet him halfway, to feel his breath on my face, to touch him. “You’re an Omega without a chaperon. Even if you weren’t the daughter of our team’s new owner, we couldn’t let you go anywhere alone. I refuse to let you put yourself in danger.”

Tiergan drove slowly down a dark side street, watching me more than the road itself. There were no lights in the neighborhood and the houses were at least a hundred feet spaced out from one another. Lots of trees and privacy. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea I got in the car with these guys.

“Well, good thing you’re not in charge of me then.” I’d meant to lure him in with sweet words, but he pushed my buttons, and no one got to tell me what I could or couldn’t do. I folded my arms and, with great effort, turned away from him.

“You’re an Omega. You can’t go anywhere without a chaperon.” Kane’s gorgeous face was tight as he grew red with his frustration. The SUV came to a stop, and he undid his seatbelt to scoot closer to me to grunt out, “It’s against the law.”

“Laws, shmaws.” In one swift motion, I undid my belt and opened the door to hop out.

From the backseat, Ewan guffawed. “Oh hell, I like her.”

Ignoring him and Kane’s death glare, I smiled at the others. “Thanks for the ride. Enjoy your party.” I reached for my bag and went to pat Tiergan’s leg in a friendly manner, but he moved his hand to grip mine at the same time. What felt like a bonfire engulfed our hands, and as his eyes went wide as they dilated, I jumped away from the SUV. Another gush of slick soaked me, and I swallowed back a scream.

Fuck!

No. Not these two hockey players. If it was anywhere or anyone else, it wouldn’t have mattered. I liked hockey and they were hot, but they were my dad’s players and lived in Winnipeg.

Usually I was a fighter. Nothing would scare me away. But I dropped my stuff as I turned and ran.

My pathetic Omega urges whined that I was going the wrong way. The Alphas were behind us.

The doors to the SUV opened and several someones yelled my name. I didn’t stop.

Heavy footsteps pounded the ground behind me.

Faster . Disappear into the night like a ninja. That was me, the sneakiest of sneaks.

I took a sharp right toward a dark copse of trees. They’d never find me.

The guys shouted. My heart thundered in my chest, and I could barely breathe. I pushed myself harder, eyes on the goal.

Someone grabbed my wrist. I stopped dead on the spot and used his momentum to fling him over me. Alderic landed flat on his back, the air knocked out of him. Shock and pain made his face pale.

For a brief second, I felt horrible. This guy was the sweet one, giving me room at the car when I was yelling at them to go away. An apology formed on my lips, and I was suddenly wrapped in a bear hug from behind. My feet were lifted off the ground as I kicked, crying out as I fought against the steely muscles that held me trapped.

I jerked my head back to whack him, but he was ready for it. Instead, my head went to the side of his and bonked his shoulder, our cheeks brushing against one another’s. Fire lanced through my body and my pussy clenched.

Oh my fucking god.

I twisted my head to gape at Maddox whose eyes were as wide as mine.

Not a third Alpha. It was a nightmare hat trick.

Yeah, sure, I’d said many times to my friends that I wanted my own pack of hunky Alphas to worship me. But not like this.

This time when I threw my head back, I screamed at fate’s cruel sense of humor.